There and Back Again: A Shay Story
by A Gemma Dilemma
Summary: Shay is a new character, one that you've never heard. My fan fiction has taken place after the Last Sacrifice. I hope you enjoy it! *smooch, smooch*
1. Chapter 1

Why does this always happen to me? I'm stuck with a bucket load of paperwork… again. Me, being Rose Hathaway, cannot handle this. I sigh, loud enough for everyone in the office to hear my dismay. No one looks my way. We recently attacked a small Strigoi colony living just off the coast of Seattle. My ravishing partner, Dimitri, and myself were selected as two of the seventeen Guardians to attack the twelve Strigoi. Everyone made it out alive, except the Strigoi. I hear a rustling of paper as six of the seven Guardians pack up for the night. I sigh again. Everybody files out of the door. No matter how much empathy they share for me, no one is willing to do my paperwork. All except one. She stops walking and turns around. To face me. She isn't very tall, somewhere between me and Dimirti. Her long hair is tied back in a messy ponytail, the colour stuck between red and brown. Her big eyes overwhelm me, making me loose myself in their murky, black depths. She smiles broadly, reveling shiny white teeth behind the stained red lips. She. Is. Gorgeous. She is also familiar.

"Hi," she says, "I'm Shay. I was there for that case." She says, pointing to the file that I was currently working on. So _that _is where I recognized her.

"I can do it if you would like. You can work on that other case." Again, she points to the lonely manila folder sitting half a meter away.

"Really?" I say is utter astonishment. No one had ever offered to do my work. She nods.

"Well thanks. I'm Rose by the way; Rose Hathaway."

"I know." She says with a small smile.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks to Shay, I'm done for the night. She filled out her case before I had even got halfway through mine. She offered to do that case as well, but I told her I would do it. I rub the back of my neck as I trudge across the court grounds. December has just begun and a small layer of snow already covers the ground. I see the Guardians' compound up ahead but, reluctantly, turn to check on Lissa. I haven't seen her all day since, as punishment for all the bad deeds I've done over the past year, I'm on probation, as Hans called it. I basically have to wait two months before I can actually _become _Lissa's Guardian. You'd think I would be all right, since Dimitri is on probation too, but we're on different sides of the office. Something tells me that wasn't a coincidence either. I arrive at Lissa's housing, which is the complete opposite of mine. Her doors are all mahogany, mine are cheap, man-handled wood. Her foyer is covered with lush carpet, and my foyer is covered with… wait, I have no foyer. See, plain differences. I show the Guardians on door duty my ID and wait for my entry to be scanned through. The Guardians give it a through look over, and then give me the all clear. My hand is on the doorknob, but the door is already springing open. Christian is blocking the doorway, all blue eyes and black hair. He is also bursting with anger. I'm about to enlighten him with a snarky comment, when he raises his hand.

"Not a word, Hathaway."

He pushes past me and continues on his way. Immediately one of the Guardians follows him out of the building. I gingerly push the door open.

"Liss?"

"In here!"

Here voice is shaking. I follow her voice to the bedroom. She is sitting on the bed. Hands covering her face. I sit beside her and tug her hands down. One eye is completely red and swollen.

"R-R-Rose," she said stuttering, "H-he hit me."


	3. Chapter 3

After she explained what happened between he and Christian, I went straight to the freezer and got some frozen peas. I gently laid the packet over her puffy left eye.

"T-Thanks." Was all she could say.

"No problem." I spoke the next part gingerly, "Would you like me to talk the Christian?"

She took her time answering.

"No. I need to work this out with him. But one problem at a time. First I need to figure out how to cover my black eye." Her face was a mixture of pain and regret.

"Tell me again what happened."

"Well," she began, "I came into the apartment and he was sitting at the table. He had m-made me a hot chocolate. I asked him about his day as I was drinking. After I was done… he decided he wanted to get… hot and heavy. He picked me up and carried me to the bedroom. I was giggling the whole time, I didn't know what he wanted. And t-t-then," she stuttered. I rubbed her shoulders. "He started to undress me. I told him to stop but he wouldn't. he was crazy Rose, crazy. He finally got so pushy that I slapped him, no that hard, across the face. That's when he lost it." She went silent.

A few moments passed before I spoke up again.

"Would you like me to stay here tonight?" I asked her.

"No, no. I'll be fine."

I gave her a skeptical glance. She laughed without any humor.

"I'll be fine. Go." She said, giving me the sort of smile that broke me heart.

I left the room, telling her to get some rest. On the way out, I gave the guards strict instructions to keep checking on her to make sure she was 100% ok. They said they would do everything I asked. I left the building feeling confused.

It was snowing lightly already. 7:30am and it's snowing. I dress silently, though I'm not sure why. Dimitri's shift started at 4:00am, leaving me alone for more than three hours. I trudge, equally silent, across the grounds. Why, oh why, are the Guardian offices so far from the apartments. I enter the offices stony faced and hot tempered. I walk labored steps to the kitchen.

"Don't bother." Speaks Eddie, "They're out of coffee. And hot chocolate for that matter." I sigh heavily.

I drag myself to my desk, not uttering a single word. Eddie slides two desks down, having the nerve to smirk. The door opens quietly and in walks Shay. Eddie's smile broadens.

"You look like someone who could use a hot beverage." She says.

"I don't drink coffee." I say, eyeing the Starbucks cup.

"Eddie told me. So instead I got you a Peppermint Hot Chocolate."

She pulls a _very _large cup from the cardboard compartment and hands it to me. I take it gingerly.

"And a White Chocolate Mocha for you." She says, handing an equally large cup to him.

"Cinnamon Dolce Crème Frappuccinos. My favourite." She says, taking a big gulp from her own cup.

I hesitantly take a sip of my own. It. Is. Amazing. Sugary, with the right amount of spice. She raises an eyebrow.

"You are a gift from the gods for getting me this."


	4. Chapter 4

The day was pretty uneventful after that. Shay ended up sliding into the desk between Eddie and I. We skulled out hot drinks and tried to hurry our reports. Shay was done with her fourteen reports in six hours. Again, she wheeled her chair over to mine and offered to help. I accepted gratefully. She sifted through the reports, finding three out of the five that were there.

"You do a lot of the hunting."

"I guess. I offer, they accept." She gives me a small smile.

Shay opens the first manila folder. Her eyes scan the case and she begins to write the report.

"Dimitri was there for that. He said it was horrific. Blood everywhere."

"Yes." She says. "It was quite gruesome. I received two Molnija marks that day."

She peels back her hair to revel a bandage that I hadn't noticed yesterday. We go silent until she is finished with her reports and I am finished with mine.

"You live in the Guardian compound, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I was just wondering, I live there too."

"What floor? I live with Dimitri on the third floor. Room 3F."

"I live in 3G." she says with a small smile.

Again, we go silent. Again she breaks the silence.

"Are you and Dimitri married?" she asks.

"Nah. We always state that we don't need a piece of paper and a ring to dignify our love." I think my voice comes out a bit more bitter than I had planned.

"I'm sorry. It's just that… you two look so perfectly happy and in love. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out. Of course that doesn't mean your married, I was just assuming. Sorry"

She looks genuinely apologetic.

"It's okay. A lot of people just nose around in our business. It gets hard to disfigure someone trying to be nice, or trying to know everything about us."

"I know the feeling."

Again I'm struck with somehow knowing her. Her name, her face, it's within my grasp, but it slips from my grip.

"How do I know you? You seem familiar." I say, hoping to get a good answer.

"Well, I was that little thirteen year old girl who decapitated her Strigoi mother. Maybe that's where you know me from." Her voice is plain, but it's laced with bitterness.

We arrive at the Guardian complex.

"I am so sorry. I-I had no idea."

"It's okay. I get asked about it a lot. You're not the first. Most people don't even apologize."

We start to walk up the stairs. The elevator had recently broken down and we were getting it worked on. So far, our progress made zero. We say nothing as we ascend the stair. Finally we get to our door. Abruptly, she turns to me.

"I'll see you around." Her eyes are the masks of sadness.

I give you a sullen nod. She turns back and unlocks her door, disappearing from my sight.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Shay's perspective:**_

Rose is the most interesting person I have ever met. Even while doing paperwork, I can see the passion burning in her eyes, no matter the faintness. I reach for my phone, which isn't there. I sigh, turning back to my door. I must of left it in the office. I glumly unlock, and then relock the door. I trudge silently down the stairs and out the door. The snow has stopped falling, but it still covers the ground like a shadow. I decide on running to the office, to try and beat the curfew. Subconsciously, I take in the fact that there are no Guardians around. I was trained well. I would have been the best in my class, if I had not been with Dimitri Belikov. Suddenly, a gunshot rains through the air. It hits my side and I scream. The pain erupts so strongly I begin to feel dizzy. I was running close to the wards, and a human is now dragging me outside them. I feel teeth sink into my neck and my blood drains away from me. The pain subsides as I feel the joy of the bite. I look into the red eyes of a Strigoi as my life leaves me. I close my eyes. The Strigoi roughly separates my lips and feeds his blood back to me. My senses burst and I am suddenly overwhelmed with the vividness of my surroundings. The snow is a little whiter, the night sky a little bluer. A boot connects with my captors face. The human is knocked out instantly. The Strigoi who bit me is sprinting away. I quickly, quicker than ever before, stand up. The faces fly into my vision with a sharpness I'm not use to. all I can here is the _thump thump thump _of the Guardians hearts. I pull my lips back into a feral snarl. On the side of my vision, Rose is there, stake raised. So is Dimitri. There is to many of them. I run.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Rose's perspective:**_

Shay. Shay's screams. Shay's terror. That's all I think about as I sprint from my apartment, Dimitri on my tail. The other Guardians are filing down the stairs as well, stake in hand. We rush outside just as Shay's eyes open. But they are not the warm brown eyes that I lost myself in. They were hard, merciless, red eyes. I had a strange sense of déjà vu. As if I was seeing Dimitri like that again. It unsettled me. No one moved. Her eyes scanned ours, growling like an animal. She turns on her heels and runs. I thought that would be the last time I saw her. It wasn't.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Four months later: Shay's perspective**_

The world is clearer. I see everything in a way I have never thought of. If I had known what it was like to be a Strigoi when I was a dhampir, I would have turned ages ago. I would have let my mother bite me rather than decapitate her. No matter that I'll be twenty-five forever, it's a price I'm willing to pay. My attention snaps back to reality. A young couple is heading down this alleyway to their car. Valentines day is perfect for killing. Humans get reckless because of '_love'. _I swoop in. I snap both their necks so they don't scream. They are rich, despite their age. I lower my head down and feed from their necks. For good measure, I rip the bracelet off the girls arm. It is one where the chain leads into the ring. I glance up at the night sky, speckled with tiny stars. I would have found beauty in it four months ago. Now I feel nothing except the satisfaction from my kill.

_**Dimitri's perspective:**_

We have no leads on Shay. None whatsoever. I can tell it's killing Rose, who barely even knew Shay. But I did. I remember her the instant I saw her face. I once had a crush on her, a petty one that was never anything more. And she was an amazing fighter, with skills that would rival my own. She placed just under me in our final grades. Over the years, she learned to lose her accent. Much like me. I rifle through her papers once again, hoping for answers that I'm sure won't come. But they do. I know where she is.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Dimitri's perspective:**_

I hurry into Hans' office. He looks up with a questioning glance.

"Guardian Belikov, it's past curfew. What are you doing here?"

"It's Shay. I know where she is."

His surprise mounts.

"How? How do you know?"

"I grew up with her. I know all of her secrets. You could say we were best friends. She always said she would return to Baia when she had the free time. She is a Strigoi now, how many things should she have going on?"

I could see Hans mulling things over in his head. I could only guess what wheels were spinning.

_**Hans' perspective:**_

He had a point. Most Strigoi do return to the place that means something to them. But his plan had flaws. What if she didn't go back to Baia? What if she is on the other side of the world, but not in Russia?

"I believe you." I could hear him sigh in relief. "But you are going to have some trouble convincing the queen. You have already done so with me, but she holds the greatest power. She will have the final say."

"Thank-you sir." Was all the young Guardian said before turning around and leaving, a perplexed look on his face.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Vasilissa's perspective:**_

When Dimirti had told me about Shay, before she was awakened, I knew we had to resurrect her, not kill her. Dimitri would tell us (me and Rose) stories about her when she was a teenager. When she had killed her Strigoi mother. I knew instantly why I didn't want to kill her. She was a mixture of Rose and Dimitri. Rose's passion and gut instinct. Dimitri's logic and god-like personality. She was someone I needed to know. Later that evening, we started on our plans.

_**Rose's perspective:**_

"No one," said Lissa in her newfound queenly voice, "is to kill Shay. No one. All I want you to do is to bind her. Make sure she does not escape."

"And then what?" I asked her.

"Then we resurrect her."


	10. Chapter 10

I could tell Dimitri was nervous. But under that apprehension, he was ready. He loved her in the way I loved Mason, but I couldn't let Shay have Mason's fate. I couldn't.

_**Dimitri's perspective:**_

Adrian had insisted on being the one to do it. To stake her with spirit. We could hardly let Lissa go, and he was the only one available. We had set off early the next morning on a private jet that would take us straight where we needed to go. They were all relying on me to know. All seven Guardians and Adrian. I didn't know for certain that she was there, but I had a gut-instinct. Rose came and sat me, bringing me back to reality.

"I believe in you." She whispered, planting a kiss on my cheek. "Forever."

The plane landed with a jolt. We were in my homeland.

_**Shay's perspective:**_

I smelt them before I saw them. Before I even heard them. They smelled of sweat. It was intoxicating. Seven... no, eight different scents asking to be tasted. It was a powerful surge. But I knew they didn't want a bite. They wanted to kill. But they were hardly going to get it easy.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Adrian's perspective:**_

I wasn't scared. Not in the least. If I were killed, no one would care. Sure, my father would 'mourn', but he would be more nervous about his reputation. So no, I knew I had to do this, and I wasn't scared. Okay, maybe I was. But only a little bit.

_**Dimitri's perspective:**_

Once when we were thirteen, Shay killed her mother. We had been at the park with six others, and nineteen different Strigoi captured her and two others. Me, and the other five children, had ran to the officials to explain what had happened. Immediately a search party was dispatched. They returned, three days later. Shay had been clinging to a handheld, silver axe. She had told me she had killed her mother, who I knew to be Strigoi, with tears down her face. She was the first ever thirteen year old to kill a Strigoi. She told me that she wasn't proud.

_**Shay's perspective:**_

"Hello. Fancy meeting you guys here. Long time, no see." I said in the darkest voice that I could muster.

The Guardians stood side by side, all with stake in hand. And they bought a Moroi. Suddenly, the most intense pain I have even felt shot through my side. A silver stake was buried deep within my ribs. I pulled my lips back in a savage growl. In a second, all the Guardians were around me, tying me to a log. I raked my nails, snared my teeth, but nothing would stop them. They pulled back to let the Moroi through. He had a stake in hand. I recognized him instantly. Adrian Ivashkov. But it didn't matter who he was. It only mattered that his spirit-infused stake was now buried in my heart.


	12. Chapter 12

_**Shay's perspective:**_

A blinding white enveloped me. I left the woods that we were in behind, and all I saw was Ivashkov's face. I felt the veil that had encased me since I had been turned lifting off of me. There was no transition when the light was gone. All that mattered were the faces around me and what I would have done to their owners should I had not been tied up. Then Dimitri had his arms around me, and I was sobbing inconsolably into his duster. I didn't know I had started screaming until my throat hurt. All the while, Dimitri was begging with the Guardian's to give me more time. More time that I don't deserve. I won't ever deserve anything again after all the lives I have took.

_**Dimitri's perspective:**_

Her screams would have hurt my ears should this have been another situation. But now they only hurt my heart. All the while the Guardians were trying to pry her off of me, me off of her. I looked into Rose's eyes. There wasn't jealousy, wasn't anger. There was only faith in me that I knew what I was doing. She gave me a small nod that said a million things, none of which I could grab hold of. I turned back to Shay. I started to kneel, helping her in the progress. Her cheeks were stained red and were trekked with tears. I suddenly got a flashback of when she had killed her mother. She had come into my room one night, in St. Basil's all the novices were held together, asking for comfort with her face shiny from tears. We had sat on the couch all night, eating the ice cream that she had stolen. It was one of the only moments I had seen her with her walls down. I thought I would never see her like this again. I was wrong.


	13. Chapter 13

_**Shay's perspective:**_

Forgiveness is never something I can have. I will never allow myself to be happy, knowing that, for some people, they can never be happy again. Because they are dead. Because I killed them. Forgiveness is not on my agenda.

I only let Dimitri visit me. And when the queen wants to, she does. But I never say anything more than a few sentences. I cut them off when they try to tell me what I did as a Strigoi was not my fault. I will not hear it. Dimitri is sitting on my one rickety chair, facing me on the bed.

"They're letting you go." He says.

"They are?" I say, raising my head.

About a week ago, I submitted myself to testing. I sat in sunlight, went to church, even held a silver stake. I had only agreed to my testing because Dimitri had asked me to. But I can't outside.

"I know what you're thinking." He says solemnly. "You're thinking 'I can't go out there because of what people will think, because of how people will look at me.' That's what you're thinking, isn't it?"

"How did you know?"

"Because I thought the same thing. But Shay, for the love of God, you can't do this to yourself." I'm about to silence him, but he raises his hand. "Shay, listen to me. I know exactly what you're going through. And trust me, you're probably never going to get over this. But you have to try Shay, you have to try."


	14. Chapter 14

_**Rose's perspective:**_

Shay slides into the office between Eddie's and mine. She has the saddest air about her. It breaks my heart. She gives me the smallest of smiles.

"Hi." I say softly.

"H-HI." Her voice is hoarse, like she hasn't spoken in a while.

I don't know where to go from here. Come on Eddie, where are you? Speak of the devil, he walks through the door. In his hands are three large Starbucks cups. He sets them down silently, one by one.

"Thanks." Says Shay. I repeat.

"That only leaves you, Hathaway." Eddie says.

"Only me to do what?"

"To buy our coffees. You haven't put in yet." He points out.

I puff indignantly. My day has so not been going right. Hans has put me in the office _again. _He says it's only for today. Thank god.

_**Dimitri's perspective:**_

I am worried about her. I haven't been sleeping much lately which makes Rose worry about me. Shay barely speaks. But when she does, it's soft and sad. But I hardly have time to check up on her. I'm to busy being Christian's Guardian. I try to talk to her, but nothing I say with get her to smile. Her birthday is coming up, but when I asked her what she plans on doing, she just shrugged and said 'probably nothing'. I'm walking in the Court's jewelry store with Christian, since he wants to buy something for Lissa. A congratulatory present on passing the law about having a family member to be eligible to vote on the council. I meander along with him. He spots a rose-gold ring ahead. It has a Latin imprint that says Si vis amari, ama.

"What does it mean?" He asks me.

"If you wish to be loved, love."

He turns to the shopkeeper.

"I'll take it. Can you also wrap it fancy please?"

"Of course." She says, scurrying to fulfill his requests.

"Isn't Shay's birthday coming up?"

"Yes." I say suspiciously.

"What are you going to get her?"

Dimitri hadn't thought about it. He had only been thinking of how to get his childhood best friend to smile, to laugh again. Jewelry was pointless since a Guardian could hardly fight with it on. After Shay's feat of young murder, she read To Kill a Mockingbird. She had also just finished learning Latin at the time. She had said she would love to read it in Latin, but never did.

"I'm going to get her a book."


	15. Chapter 15

_**Shay's perspective:**_

For the first time in her life, she did not wake early for her birthday. Even when she turned twenty-five, she woke at four in the morning. Now, twenty-six years of age, she felt nothing but remorse. She got to grow up, but not the people whose lives she took. She got out of her bed, stretching like a cat, a yawn converting her features. Walking into her lounge, she was greeted by the sight of presents. Mounds of them, or at least more than she was used to. On her front door was a sign from Hans.

'_Take the day off.'_

She turned back to her presents, grabbing the first one she saw. It was a small bag, and when she put the bag in, she felt a strange material. She pulled it out, reveling an army green coat. It had small brass buttons with _remissionem_, the Latin word for forgivenessengraved deep into the works. It was strong, made to last. Shay picked up the card and read it.

_Happy birthday Shay!_

_I had remissionem engraved for a reason. Do not forget._

_Love from Lissa._

The queen had got her a birthday present. Taking the jacket into her room, she pulled off her rumpled pajamas. She put on a vivid red sweater, leather pants and her new jacket. It fit perfectly. She didn't bother with shoes, but with socks. She walked back into the living room. She picked up a small box, tearing at the wrapping. It was a shoebox. Inside, was a pair of army boots that matched perfectly with her jacket. The card read:

_Happy Birthday Shubba-Shabba-Shay,_

_That's what I am going to call you now. Subba-Shabba-Shay. Has a nice ring to it. Anyway, I hope you have a great day_

_Xoxo, Rose._

Of course it was from Rose. She probably collaborated with Lissa on this. She pulled on her boots. Again, they fit perfectly. _How do they know everything? _She thought. She then picked up a large but flat box. The wrapping said _Victoria Secret. _Adrian. She opened it up and, as she thought, bright green lingerie lay inside.

_Thought you might want something to remind you of my killer eyes. Show me what it looks like on?_

_Adrian. _

She sighed. The next box was small, something only a piece of jewelry would fit in. Gently unwrapping the ribbon, she was reveled a small anklet. It was a petite silver chain with red ribbon somehow braided with it.

_Don't forget to tell everyone that you like my present better then theirs, because I know you do._

_Christian. _

His name was signed with a lipstick mark, no doubt Lissa's. She looped the anklet twice around her left ankle, since she was right handed. The last present was slightly heavy, about the size of Lissa's bag. Inside was a book, a Latin book to be precise. _Occidere Mockingbird _was written across the top in heavy letter. The card inside this package was bigger than the others.

_Shay,_

_Remember, before you killed your mother, how bright and bubbly you used to be? Then, everything went dark with you. Eventually, you went back to being your old self again, only a little duller than before. Hopefully, you will learn to see the light again. Hopefully, you'll go back to the way you were._

_Dimka._

A tear hit the page.


	16. Chapter 16

_**Shay's perspective:**_

I have never felt so loved. I have never felt so _happy._ Happy, she told herself, was something she could never feel again. But right now, she couldn't help it. It was brimming up inside her, waiting to be unleashed into the world. It was that moment that she believe Dimitri, believed Lissa. She _could _be herself again, and what she did was in the past.

_**Christian's perspective:**_

I can see her happiness. As soon as I see her coming towards us, I know she has changed. Every time I see her, a permanent sadness is etched upon her face. but now, now she is…

_**Dimitri's perspective:**_

…Smiling. She is finally smiling again. She bounds up to us encasing, first me, then Christian in a bear hug.

"Thank-you." She says, breathless. "Thank-you so much."

Tears threaten her eyes, but she brushes them away. Finally, I say,

"Let's go find Lissa and Rose."


	17. Epilogue

_**Shay's epilogue:**_

My life couldn't be more perfect. I spent the rest of my life with Dimitri, Rose, Lissa, Christian, Eddie and even Adrian. About two years after that, I met a Moroi, Greg Dashkov. We had twins, Jace and Miranda, but later decided to part ways. We are still friends, and the kids meet with him often. I took up the role as head Guardian at St. Vladimirs, after Alberta stepped down. I still often have nightmares about the people I killed as a Strigoi, but Dimitri and Rose help me through it.

All is well.


End file.
